Getting to Know Team USA – Brenda Martinez

8/16/2013

In the sport of track and field, an athlete is always looking for a breakthrough season. A year when the specifics in their training and mental approach seem to come together and equals faster times. And most importantly they are performances they are able to repeat.

Brenda Martinez enters the women’s 800-meter final at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Moscow, Russia, Sunday in the midst of one of those types of seasons. And she hopes the best is yet to come.

To put it mildly, Martinez has been running well this year. She has run under two-minutes in the 800m six different times, which includes twice so far in Moscow. She dropped her personal best in the event by nearly a full second and has dropped more than six seconds off her 1500m personal best. She owns two of the top six times in the world in the 800m this season and is currently seventh on the world performance list in the 1500m. She has even claimed a victory in the Diamond League this year in the 800m.

And with perfect timing, she looks primed at the best possible moment.

In Moscow, she recorded the fastest time of anyone in the qualifying round and was second in the semi-final round Friday only to teammate Alysia Montano.

Martinez, Montano and Ajee Wilson all advanced to the 800m final on Friday, which marks the first time three Americans qualified for the final in the event in the history of the World Outdoor Championships. Each advance with a specific approach and one collective goal for Team USA in mind – to become the first American to win a medal in the women’s 800m at the World Outdoor Championships.

Each will give their best effort to help make Team USA history.

You can follow Martinez and the rest of Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships including complete results and recaps on www.usatf.org.